NASW Foundation National
Programs
NASW Social Work Pioneers®
Margery Carpenter
 Margery Carpenter moved to Washington, DC from Chicago in 1961 when her husband accepted a position with the United States Children's Bureau. Her pioneering efforts as a social worker were shown in her work with the National Lutheran Council as a consultant and with the DC Youth Services Council as a volunteer. While with the National Lutheran Council she developed a program to recruit students in Lutheran colleges to work in Lutheran social welfare agencies. Many became executive directors of statewide agencies. At one time students she recruited were directors of most of the major Lutheran social welfare agencies. Regrettably, as they retired many were replaced with non-social workers. She produced several recruitment publications and visited Lutheran colleges on a regular basis.
The DC Youth Services Council was developed to recruit high school and college students to involve mentally retarded youngsters in programs that combined training and play through a variety of cretive activities, from tumbling to crafts. Margery served as the volunteer coordinator in the development and supervision of the program.
Margery was born in Minneapolis, Muinnesota and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota School of Social Work for two years. She worked for the State of Minnesota Department of Public Welfare where she was the consultant on children's institutions. During this period she also was clinical instructor for the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. She later worked for the National Lutheran Council in a number of capacities and also was a consultant for special projects for the Child Welfare League.
Margery has been active for much of her professional life with the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), as a volunteer, and a member of both national and international committees. She has attended over fifteen of their international conferences, the first in Madras, India, in 1952. Since then she has attended such conferences in North America, Europe, and the Far East. She served as a speaker and group leader at several of the conferences. For the past 15 years she has served as the Volunteer Coordinator of the U.S. Council, ICSW.
Margery was a charter member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers as well as the National Association of Social Workers. She was also a charter member of the Friends of the Kennedy Center and the National Museum of Women of the Arts. She and her husband donated a painting for their collection as well as several other museums and galleries.
Margery was nominated as a NASW Pioneer in 1997 and in 2009 she received an award from the ICSW at their conference in Tours, France, for her many years of service to ICSW. Margery is married to Kenneth S. Carpenter who is also a NASW Pioneer.
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